On the 30th September, we were invited to display our exhibition at the EICC Edinburgh, for the Mothers’ Union General Meeting which sees about 1,000 delegates mainly from the UK and Ireland. The theme of the day was ‘Peace and Reconciliation’, because the key note speaker was the Archbishop of Canterburys chief advisor on this subject, Canon Sarah Snyder. Our exhibition tied in well with this theme. We had a prime area to display all of the shoes and delegates came before the meeting started, during the lunch break and afterwards. The display showcased our newest ventures into prisons and schools, showing feedback in comments from these places. We spoke to many who were very moved by it, many who wanted to replicate the idea in a small way during the 16 days of activism and some who will be borrowing the exhibition in its various forms. We also gave out an information sheet on how one could set up such an exhibition oneself. I spoke to a few
Mothers’ Union members who said they had lived in an abusive relationship and we’re very
pleased to see the shoes and thanked me for bringing them.
Comments were; Moving. Eye opening. Inspirational. Amazing. So sad a reflection on
humanity. Good initiative. We will use the idea for our church / diocese initiative. The
abuser might promise tomorrow will be better ‘I won’t do it again’, but believe me, ‘he/she
does. This reminds me of the abuse my daughter and grand- children suffered, but had
courage to walk away.